Bettman: Salary cap could rise by at least $4 million next season taken at PPG Paints Arena (Penguins)

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Gary Bettman

The NHL's salary cap could rise significantly as early as next season, commissioner Gary Bettman said following a Board of Governors meeting in New York on Tuesday.

The current upper limit of the salary cap is $82.5 million, an increase of $1 million from the 2020-21 season. The reason for the relatively flat cap is that players still have an escrow debt to owners as a result of the financial losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The collective bargaining agreement assures a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue between players and owners. Players still got paid during the COVID shutdown, but the league's revenue took a hit, creating an imbalance in the revenue split. Players have been making escrow payments ever since in order to make up for the imbalance.

Bettman said Tuesday that the escrow debt could potentially be paid off as early as this season. If it is, then the salary cap for the 2023-24 season could rise by at least $4 million.

"We believe that there is a good probability that the escrow will be paid off this season," Bettman said. "It may not be, but it's going to be close we think, which means the flat cap will be replaced by a bigger increase. Revenue is pretty vibrant. We probably did $5.4 billion in (hockey-related revenues) this past season) which is actually about a half a billion more than we projected a year ago when we were starting things up. Things are good."

If the escrow debt is not paid off this season, the salary cap for 2023-24 would rise just $1 million to $83.5 million, then increase by a more substantial amount for 2024-25.

"The business is good, and so things are looking possible for it being paid off this year," Bettman said. "If we miss it, it'll be close, so it'll be next year."

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